Chapter 12-
With my eyes closed, I felt Amiboshi run a hand down my cheek, “Ah, dear Juliet, why art thou yet so fair?”
His voice was choked, tear filled, and he sat next to me. I lay across the tomb of my grave, supposedly dead. He put his face closer to mine, “Shall I believe that unsubstantial death is amorous, and that the lean abhorred monster keeps thee in the dark to be his paramour?” a sob escaped his throat. He was such an awesome actor, I was nearly crying, hearing the pain in his voice. I would have to save it. He went on tearfully, “eyes, look your last. Arms, take your last embrace. And lips...” his voice softened, “o, you, the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss,” slowly, I felt him lean down and press his lips to mine. How badly I wanted to respond so badly after today, but I was, after all, dead.
He kept his lips pressed tenderly against mine, then straightened up slowly.
Breathing heavily, he sobbed a bit more, and spoke, “Here’s to my love!” I knew he drank the bottle quickly, and I heard many audience members gasp loudly, while sniffing.
Amiboshi choked, and I knew he was clutching his throat, “They...thy drugs are...quick...” he began to falter, “thus with a kiss...I...die..” his lips neared mine, and I felt the hot breath upon them, but he never reached my lips, and collapsed next to me. There was a long, dramatic silence, and I hear sniffles and sobs coming from the audience.
Suddenly, I fluttered my eyes open, staring up ahead of me. But I sat up slowly then, weakly, and many of the audience sniffed more. I looked in front of me, not seeing Amiboshi, my eyes confused, “Friar? Where is my lord? I do remember well where I should be, and there I am,” I glanced wildly, still not seeing the body next to me, “where is my Romeo?”
In my glance, I suddenly laid eyes on Amiboshi, dead next to me, his eyes closed peacefully. Fear passed through my eyes and my breathing sped up a little, “O God....” letting panic arise in my voice, allowing small tears to well up, I looked down at his hand, “What’s here? A cup, closed in my true love’s hand?” I gently pried the small vile in Amiboshi’s hand, my eyes, my tone unbelieving, “poison...I see, hath been his timeless end...” breathing more panickedly, I let a sob escape my throat, some tears spilling over, “o churl! Drunk all and left no friendly drop to help me after all?” staring at him, I let another sob escape my throat, tears spilling over my cheeks. A lot of the audience seemed to be bawling. After sobbing a moment, I tried to gain control of my voice, “I...I will kiss thy lips, haply some poison yet doth hang on them...to make me die with a restorative...” I leaned down, my hair falling over my cheeks slightly, and pressed my lips to his. There was no response, and I straightened slowly.
There was a shout from off stage, “Lead boy, which way?”
I jerked my head to the voice, “Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief,” I spotted Amiboshi’s dagger at his belt and brought it out, “o happy dagger. This is thy sheath,” with a few more painful sobs, I took the dagger and pretending to stab it into my gut. The audience cried out at the suddenness. I let out a sickening gasp, and breathed, “there rust....and let...let me...die...” slowly, I collapsed onto Amiboshi, dead. The audience was left with a sobbing silence for quite some time, and the prince stepped onto the stage, front and center, addressing the audience, as Amiboshi and I appeared dead behind him.
“Good job, Juliet...” there came the hushed whisper in my ear, and I opened my eyes, away from the audience to look at Amiboshi, who still had his eyes closed, but gave me the faintest smile. I smiled also, whispering back, “You too, Romeo...”
“....shall be pardon’d, and some punished: For never was a story of more woe, that this of Juliet...” the prince paused, “and her Romeo.”
He bowed slightly and stepped off stage, as the curtains shut in front of us. As soon as they closed, applause broke out, and Amiboshi and I opened our eyes, staring at each other.
“We...did it,” he smiled warmly, happily.
I smiled adoringly, “You were amazing, Amiboshi. Thank you so much for being my Romeo.”
“Oh, Juliet,” he grinned, lowering his lips to mine and kissing me sweetly. But the curtain was opened for bows, and we were caught, as were always were, but in front of hundreds of people, but they just applauded louder. Blushing terribly, we were soon covered by the cast members, making their way to the front to bow and receiving their applause. At the end, time came for us, and we stood from the tomb, bowing gratefully, the audience roaring. Music began to play again, and the cast began to either dance around the stage, come off the stage to greet audience or head back stage to get changed. I turned to Amiboshi, smiling, but was interrupted by a sudden shout by about six or seven girls, “We love you, Amiboshi!!”
He jerked his head to a crowd of girls, possibly Jr. High girls, who blushed and swooned and waved and giggled as he turned to him. Amiboshi turned bright red, his eyes large, giving a shy wave at them. I grinned, teasing, “Goodness, you’re so popular. I may have to fight for you!”
He laughed embarrassedly, blushing more, “Aw, quit it...”
I laughed, “I’m kidding, kidding.”
CONVERSATION WITH AKAI AND TASUKI
*******************
After the play, Ms. Siton was NOT happy with us for running off the stage, but we’d heard they’d covered wonderfully, and most people didn’t even know that was a mistake. She was very pleased with the rest of the performance after that (we got our chemistry back), and let it go. I asked my parents (who were there, yes) if I could stay the night at Akai’s, and they agreed, as long as I wasn’t back too late the next day. We headed home. Once there, the house was dark, and Akai turned on the lights.
“Hey, Akai?” I asked, looking around, “where are your parents?”
“Umm...my dad’s in Canada for the week, and my mom...” she paused, thinking, “I think she’s at a nurse’s convention. She’ll be back Sunday afternoon,” she shrugged, “they were here a lot this week, but I think it was just to make up for being gone so much lately,” she looked at the floor thoughtfully, “ I miss them, but it’d a lucky break for us.”
“Yeah,” I agreed quietly, “boy, they must trust you a lot. My parents never let me stay home alone for a couple days,” I frowned, “but Jiyu’s always been there, so it never really mattered.”
She smiled, “It would be cool to have a brother or sister...all mine are grown up and moved away. She turned to Tasuki, “lucky...you have five.”
“Lucky?!” he exclaimed, “you try havin’ a sister who throws logs at ya!”
Akai laughed, “That’s true. But you just ran away and joined the Mt. Lekaiku bandits, right? That’s just like having a lot of brothers.”
Tasuki shrugged indifferently, “Yeah, whatever.”
I yawned, suddenly very tired. The play had completely worn me out, “Geez, I’m tired. What time is it?”
Akai glanced at the clock, “About nine. We could be go to bed, if everyone’s tired,” she grinned at me, “you and Ami-chan can share my parents room again.”
I blushed heavily, and noticed Amiboshi was too. “Whatever...” I said in a meek voice.
“Then, if we’re tired, I guess we’d better head off to bed, huh?” Amiboshi shrugged, stepping up next to me.
“Yeah. You guys gonna share Akai’s room?” I smirked at Akai and Tasuki as Amiboshi and I headed upstairs.
Akai turned bright red, “Umm, I hadn’t really thought about it...”
Tasuki demanded hotly, “What the hell’s that suppose ta mean?!”
I shrugged smugly, “Oh, you think we’re the only ones who get sex jokes? You two are together now too. You could be just as guilty as us.”
Tasuki glared at me, but grabbed Akai’s hand, pulling her downstairs, “Whatever. C’mon, Akai.”
“Good night!” she called over her shoulder before disappearing down the stairs.
I smiled at them, but suddenly felt Amiboshi’s lips gently against my neck, kissing me tenderly. He wrapped one arm around my waist, the other on the other side of my neck, entwining his fingers in my hair. I took in my breath slowly, butterflies making their way around my stomach, and I smiled happily, running my hand gently down his cheek, then brought his chin up to look me in the face.
He blushed gently, “Sorry, I just haven’t kissed you in so long. I couldn’t stop thinking about you today, wishing I could kiss you just once.”
I ran a hand through his hair, staring into his eyes, completely overwhelmed with my feelings, “Gods, I love you so much. You’re so sweet. Well,” I smiled smugly, “you can kiss me all you want now.”
His expression remarked surprise, but he chuckled softly, “C’mon,” and pulled me to Akai’s parent’s room.
We stepped inside, and I stopped. He did also behind me, for I think we were both looking at Akai’s parent’s bed in an entirely different way than we ever had before.
“Boy, that’s, uh, quite a large bed...” I stammered, rubbing the back of my neck nervously.
“Yeah...” he said, looking at the ground. We suddenly looked up at each other, our eyes both nervous and scared. He smiled gently, pulling me to him slowly and lowering his lips to mine. I met the kiss warmly, resting my hand on the back of his neck, entwining my fingers in the soft strands of green hair that fell over his back. We deepened the kiss sweetly and slowly. As we kissed, he walked me back to the bed and gently laid me down on it. His lips drifted from my lips, scattering kisses down my chin to my neck, sucking on it gently, while one of his hands ran down my back, and softly slid a hand under my shirt, resting his hand on my bare back. Slowly, he began to rise my shirt over my chest.
“Amiboshi...” I whispered, softly. Almost immediately, he let go of me and sat up, turning bright red, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he apologized quickly, bringing his hands to the level of his eyes1, “I’m not like that, really! I understand--”
I cut him off by kissing him tenderly and resting my hand on the side of his face, “It’s all right,” I smiled gently, “I don’t mind.”
With that, I leaned back and slipped my shirt off over my head and tossed it down to the floor carelessly. He gazed at me for a moment in surprise, then smiled and pulled me to him, kissing me, and down to my neck. Sliding my hands over the trim, I gently pulled his shirt off, separating us for a brief moment to slide it over his head, and tossed it aside with mine, then bringing his lips back up to kiss mine again, wrapping my arms around his neck, and he laid me back again, his hands at my waist. We broke the kiss, and he watched me hesitantly as he slid my skirt over my hips and down past my legs, tossing it aside also. He held me tight to him, and I shook a little more, my nervousness rising. He placed a soft kiss in my hair, his breath warm on my neck. Slowly, we got his pants off, those being tossed aside too, and now he lay fully on top of me, and lowered his lips to mine. My breathing came out
heavy in the kiss, but I kissed him back lovingly, my shaking hands holding his face softly.
As nervous as I was, I loved him so much it didn’t matter. If I was ever going to give myself to anyone, I wouldn’t want it to be anyone but Amiboshi. Though the butterflies raged, and I shook like a leaf, and my heart was beating so fast I couldn’t stop it, there was a peaceful bliss, my mind a hazy mess of love and arousal and desire and aching.
He lifted his lips from mine and gazed down at me, his eyes searching, running a soft hand down my cheek, “Are...are you sure about this? I mean...you know...”
I swallowed my precariousness and nodded, “Yes. I’m just a little scared, that’s all.”
He smiled and laid his head down next to mine, “Don’t worry, Nishiko. I’ll never hurt you. I love you too much.”
Relief and love flowed through me, and I ran a hand through his hair, “I know. I love you too.”
He lifted his head and stared down at me, his hands sliding beneath my back to my bra, his fingers gingerly fumbling with it. And fumbling with it more. I cocked and eyebrow, and he began to blush heavily. Biting my lip, I waited for what I knew I was going to hear.
“Erm...” he was blushing so bad, “how...how do you undo this...?”
I smiled comfortingly, kissing him quickly before sitting up as much as I could and reaching around myself to unhook my bra. With a quick smile, I said in a hushed voice, “Like that.”
Still flushed, he smiled gratefully, and slid the undergarment slowly off my shoulders and past my arms, gently throwing it aside. My breath caught in my throat, I shook a little harder, feeling more exposed than ever, and he quickly wrapped his arms around me, holding me closely, to release the feeling of vulnerability. Gratefully, I kissed his bare shoulder, and laid my head against it. Gently, he laid me back down again, and our eyes met, reflecting the exact same emotions.
“Nishiko....” he stared seriously at me, “are you...nervous?”
I nodded, swallowing largely, “Are you?”
He nodded also, then kissed me gently. While deepening it, sliding his tounge into my mouth, colliding it with my own, he lowered his hands down my waist to my hips, his finger slipping under the rim of my panties, but he stopped. He lifted his mouth from mine and brought his hands to encircle my waist.
“Nishiko... let’s just rest now. We can wait. We’ve got the rest of our lives together. Let’s just wait,” he whispered softly.
Through relief, I felt a wave of sadness drown me. We’ve got the rest of our lives together. Oh, Amiboshi, if you only knew...
But I smiled, “You’re right. Let’s just sleep now.”
He smiled wonderfully down at me before kissing me sweetly, and laying down beside me. I rolled over on my stomach, laying my head on his bare chest. He pulled me closer, wrapping an arm around my waist.
“Good night, Amiboshi,” I sighed, closing my eyes.
“Good night, Nishiko,” he said back. Within minutes, I was asleep against the chest of my love.
*****************
It was the first rays of sun that woke me up. I slowly opened my eyes and was startled to find myself naked. Okay, almost naked, wearing only panties.
I was even more startled to find and almost naked Amiboshi sleeping next to me. What the...oh, that’s right. Memories floated back t o me of last night, how we had decided not to, and fallen asleep. It made me sad--not that we hadn’t had sex, but that he thought we were always going to be together, and we had all the time in the world. Last night was our last night together, Amiboshi, I thought sadly, laying my head back on his chest.
“Good morning.”
I looked up to see Amiboshi awaking, smiling at me. He ran his hand gently down my bare back, and I smiled back at him, “Good morning.”
We both sat up slowly, and I began to blush a little, feeling very exposed. He suddenly wrapped his arms around me, laying his head against mine, “Feel better?”
And truthfully, I did. “Uh huh. Thank you.”
We laid back down, him on top of me, our arms around each other, the sheets coming up to our waists.
I smiled mischievously, “Huh, I wonder what Akai and Tasuki-kun did last night.”
He smiled, “Who knows. But I’ll bet they’re saying the same thing about us right now.”
I frowned, “You think they’re up?”
He shrugged, “Maybe. I think they slept down stairs.”
“Yeah,” I grinned, “leaving so abruptly last night. I bet they were up to something.”
“Like we weren’t?” he smiled.
“Oh, but we’re good,” I smiled innocently, “we didn’t go any farther than--”
I was cut off as he kissed me, full on the mouth. He seemed to do that a lot, I realized. Not that I entirely minded...
“Oops!”
Amiboshi and I both jerked out heads to the doorway, where Akai and Tasuki stood, staring a moment, then Akai yanked Tasuki over to cover his eyes.
Amiboshi immediately threw himself off of me, and I pulled the covers up over my bare chest, “Holy shit, Akai!?! Could you knock??!” I exclaimed, turning bright red. I noticed Amiboshi was exceedingly red and avoiding her eyes completely.
“S...sorry!” she stuttered, looking away, “the door was cracked open! I just came to get Amiboshi’s clothes to I could wash them! I’m sorry!”
“They’re, uh, on the...floor around here...” Amiboshi murmured, still blushing furiously.
“Oh, thanks,” she hesitated, then darted in and grabbed them, “I’ll, uh, bring your other clothes, or something...” she started out of the room, pulling Amiboshi with her.
“Hey, Amiboshi, have a good time last night?” Tasuki asked, smirking at us.
“Pervert!” Akai smacked him, “come on!”
But I was feeling...come backy, and shot out before he left the room, “I wouldn't be talking! You’re not wearing a shirt!”
He whirled around, “You’re not wearing anything!”
I raised my hand to yell something back, but realized I didn’t have anything good, “Oh, just get out,” I muttered, and Akai dragged him away.
As soon as they’d left, I breathed a sigh of relief and fell back on my pillow, “Jeez, that was embarrassing...”
“Yeah,” Amiboshi agreed, still very red in the cheeks.
I smiled at him suddenly, and laughed, “They probably think we actually...”
He thought about this, and then laughed, “Yeah, well, why not? Look at us!”
True, very true. The covers pulled up to our waists, you couldn’t even tell we were wearing underwear, and we had been kissing when they came in. Oh well, I can just tell Akai later...
I froze suddenly. It was Saturday. We were sending them back today. Oh, gods, where had the time gone? I couldn’t even imagine never seeing him again. He was so real, so warm, sitting right here next to me. I couldn’t believe he was just a person from a TV show.
There came a knock from the door, and hand peeked through with Amiboshi’s clothes, “Here, Ami-chan,” Akai called.
Amiboshi embarrassedly got up and grabbed the clothes, murmuring a soft, “Thank you,” and hurried back to the bed.
She shut the door, saying a quick, “You’re welcome.” I quickly found my bra on the ground and put it on, my back to Amiboshi. Then I got up to search for the rest of my clothes while Amiboshi sorted out his ancient China clothes.
I smiled, glancing over at him, “Hey, Amiboshi, you look adorable in those boxers we got you.”
He looked up and blushed, “Thanks. You....” he blinked, seeing me standing there in just my bra and underwear, then looked away, flushing in the cheeks, “look...nice...”
I chuckled, “Thanks,” and slipped my shirt over my head, then rummaged around for my skirt.
“Hey, Nishiko, what’re we going to do today?”
I had been walking around the room, and his words caught me off guard. I tripped over nothing and landed flat on my face.
“Nishiko, are you okay?” he cried, rushing to me and helping me up.
“Y-yeah, I’m fine...” I stammered, “just lost my footing.”
“On carpet?”
“Uh...”
“Here,” he handed me my skirt and began to put on his own pants. I slipped on my skirt and noticed something on the bed.
“Amiboshi, your headband!” I exclaimed, picking it up, “it’ll be so neat to see you wear it again.”
He turned to me, tying the belt around his overcoat and taking the headband gingerly from me. He smiled, smoothing out his clothes, “It feels better to be in my old clothes again.”
I nodded, but looking at him, I felt overcome by so much sadness and guilt that I suddenly burst into tears.
His eyes widened, “Nishiko?! What’s wrong?!”
“Oh, Amiboshi!” I sobbed, falling into him, “I love you so much...I don’t want to give you back.”
“What are you talking about?!” he cried, holding me.
“I...I...oh, I don’t know!” I continued through tears, “everything is going down the toilet!”
“No, no, everything’s perfect!” he assured me, “everything’s okay. Now, what’s wrong?”
I didn’t reply, but cried more into his chest. If only you knew, Amiboshi, if only you knew.
******************
“Nishi-chan, we have to make the broth.”
I turned to Akai, as we stood in the kitchen, doing dishes.
“Oh, uh, yeah,” I said quietly, regretting every word. I pulled out a folded up sheet of paper from my jeans pocket (I’d borrowed a pair from Akai), “here’s the recipe...”
“Umm hmm....” she murmured.
I unfolded it and looked it over, “I’m pretty sure your mom has all of these ingredients. Well. We should get started.”
We found the ingredients and began cooking it, very hesitantly. We were basically finished when the guys walked into the kitchen.
“Hey, what smells so damn good?” Tasuki asked with a smile, “ya guys makin’ soup fer us?”
I almost laughed bitterly at the irony, but kept my mouth shut and left it for Akai to answer.
I really wished I hadn’t.
She burst into tears and sobbed, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t want to but we had not choice! It wasn’t my fault, Tasuki-kun! I never would have lied, but Chichiri-san told us we had to!”
My eyes grew huge. The bloody idiot was blurting out everything!
“What the fuck are ya talkin’ about, Akai?!” Tasuki asked, alarmed, “when did ya talk to Chichiri?!”
“No...we, uh...uh...no...” I stammered, drawing a complete blank. Finally, instead of getting sad and weepy like Akai had, I got angry. I smacked Akai roughly, “you’re such a damned moron!”
“Hey! Don’t fuckin’ hit ‘er!” Tasuki exclaimed, rushing to Akai and giving me one of the dirtiest looks I’ve ever gotten.
It didn’t discourage me, “Let me throttle her!! Just once!!” I shouted, balling my hands into fists while Amiboshi held me back.
“Holy shit, Nishiko!!”
“Let me go!”
“Back off, ya psychotic she-devil!”2
“Stop protecting her!”
“What the hell is wrong with ya, Nishiko?!”
“Hey!!”
The whole room fell silent as Amiboshi shouted over us all, “Thank you,” he sighed, quieter, “now, will one of you please explain what’s going on?”
“In...in the mirror,” Akai managed between sobs, “Chi...Chichiri appeared in the mirror...and he told us to...to...”
“Spit it out!” Tasuki cried.
There was a shaky silence, and I realized there was no way out of this one. I looked at the ground and took a deep breath, “He told us to send you back to your world. We have the power.”
The whole room fell silent, with the exception of Akai’s sobs. Amiboshi dropped his arms from me. I couldn’t bear to face him and tears slid down my cheeks.
“But...but you weren’t going to, right?” Amiboshi asked nervously.
Now it was my turn to cry. I put a hand over my mouth to stifle the sobs, but said between tears, “Like Akai said, we have no choice! We have to, Amiboshi...”
“But...if you have the power, you can choose not to, right?” when I didn’t answer, he turned me around, his hands on my arms, shaking me, “right?!”
I heard Akai murmur something to Tasuki, and I put my face in my hands, “Don’t make this harder than it already is, Amiboshi...”
“Then...you want to...”
“No...”
But I looked up to see Amiboshi turn and run down the stairs. I quickly wiped my tears from my face and grabbed a cup before scooping some of the broth into it and heading down after him.
He was in their room, pacing nervously, his hand raked through his hair.
“Amiboshi,” I choked out, standing in the doorway. He jerked his head up and stopped.
“Nishiko, I told you,” he said firmly, “I’m not going back.”
I set the glass on a near by table and more tears flowed down my cheeks, “We have to. Don’t you understand? Your world is a living hell now because you two aren’t there.”
“But why--”
We looked to the doorway to see Akai run in, Tasuki right behind her.
“You guys,” she said quietly, “please, calm down and--”
“Calm down?!” Tasuki yelled, “ya were gonna do it, weren’tchya?! This whole time, ya lied ta me!”
Akai looked like she’d been slapped, but recovered to shout painfully, “Don’t you see we don’t have a choice?! Don’t you think it’s been painful enough?!”
He shouted something back, and I turned back to Amiboshi and crossed the room to him. Okay, Nishiko, I instructed myself, reassure him that you love him, kiss him goodbye, give him the broth, and send him home.
“Amiboshi, please don’t hate me. I don’t want to...” I pleaded softly.
His eyes softened, and he shook his head, “I could never hate you. I love you, Nishiko.” With that, he pulled me into his arms, and my eyes widened as I realized how to send him back.
“No!” I cried, pushing him away, “don’t tell me that!”
If he was lovey and sweet to me, I’d want him to stay, and it’d be impossible to send him back. But if he hated me, I would want him to go. The thought of him hating me was the most depressing I’d ever thought, and I began crying again.
“Yes! Yes, do hate me! I’m mean and cruel and devious! I tricked you and lied to you! Just hate me with every ounce of hate you have in you!” I cried, tears running rapidly down my cheeks.
“Nishiko, you know I can’t--”
“Punch me! Hit me! Beat me up!” I screamed through sobs, “do anything to make me want to you go away! Hit me, damnit!!”
He looked away, closing his eyes, “Stop it, Nishiko. I won’t go back. I’ll stay here with you forever!”
“For God’s sake, would you stop it???!!” I shouted, getting crushed by every sweet word that came out of his mouth. I gazed around the room and my eyes fell upon the broth. I remembered my words to Chichiri and Taiist-kun, “So, you’re telling us to trick them into drinking the drugs?”
Trick him. Yes, that was it. I went over and grasped the glass in my hand.
“Amiboshi,” I said quietly, my throat sore from screaming, “come here.”
He obediently did, and I turned to him, the glass in my hand.
“If you won’t hate me,” I said in a calm voice, “then kiss me.” I hadn’t looked him in the eyes, for I knew I’d crumble.
He seemed surprised, but wrapped and arm around me. Right before he kissed me, I took a long drink of the broth, holding the foul tasting liquid in my mouth.
“What...” Amiboshi started, confused, but I pulled him to me and kiss his mouth, draining the broth from my mouth into his. Finally, after it was all out of me, I pulled away, the tears now pouring.
He gazed at me, choking a little, his eyes hurt and confused, “Nish..” but he suddenly passed out and fell to the floor.
I closed my eyes. Go away. I thought, please, go home so I won’t have to look at you anymore. Please...just go home.
When I opened my eyes, he was starting to disappear. I fell to my knees, my heart speeding up in panic, wrapping my arms around him and sobbing. Oh Gods, I thought, pain pouring through me, oh Gods, I love him so much... Slowly, as everyone of my tears fell, he was completely gone, and I fell, grasping air. I lie there, stunned, then realizing all that had happened, I burst into painful sobs, weeping into the carpet. I’d just lost the most important thing in my life. Amiboshi, who had loved me, kissed me, told me I was great, the one guy I ever truly loved with my whole heart, had just disappeared, and I would never see him again. I felt like half of me was gone.
I’d never believed two people could feel exactly the same way about each other, know it, and express it unless they were, like, Tamahome and Miaka or something, but he’d almost proved me wrong, helped me believe that love could possibly have a happy ending. But I was wrong. He was wrong. No matter how much you want something to happen, how much you deserve it to happen, it won’t. Life was like that. Life was cold and cruel and had ripped away my love, my will to live, my other half. It had ripped it away like my own flesh being torn from my body, leaving me to bleed to death in my own pain and suffering.
I looked up suddenly, hearing a scream and a shatter of glass as Akai threw the glass at the wall, and it smashed.
It was then that I realized Tasuki was gone. She’d done it. She’d sent him back.
I looked back at the spot where Amiboshi’d fallen, and disappeared. Angry tears poured down my cheeks. I felt so inclined to walk over, grab a shard of the broken glass and slit my wrist open. I wanted to die. I deserved to die. Everything about this was my fault. I couldn’t blame life or fate or anything else. I was the one who’d tricked him, kissed him, and sent him home. My misery was by my own hand.
Instead of slitting my wrists, or my throat, preferably, I scrambled to my feet and ran out of the room, up the stairs and out the door, slamming it behind me. As luck would have it, it was pouring rain.
I ran down the steps and raced into the street, sobbing endlessly. I would trip many times, falling into the mud, and wearily pick myself up and keep going. I suddenly, vaguely heard a car pull up beside me. I glanced at it, recognizing the red van, but couldn’t place it. As Akio stepped out, I staggered back a little. Oh no. I didn’t need Akio right now. Losing my footing in the mud, I fell back onto my knees into the damp ground.
“Nishiko! What are you doing out here?” he exclaimed, lifting me gently to my feet.
“Is...is it still raining out?” I asked weakly, opening my eyes a little wider.
“Jeez, what happened to you?!” he murmured, “can...can you stand?”
He gently helped over to the van.
“Oh my God...” I heard his mom gasp as he opened the door, “is she okay?”
“I think so. I don’t know what happened to her.”
“Honey, do you need us to take you back to our house?” Akio’s mom asked me softly.
I slowly looked at her, “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you take me home?”
“Sure, honey, just get in.”
I tried to get in, but was so disoriented, I tripped and nearly fell into the mud again.
“Akio! Help her in!”
Akio helped me into the van, then climbed in himself. In the car, I noticed I was soaking wet, muddy, and cut a bit. I briefly felt bad for being like this in their car, but didn’t say anything. I couldn’t.
We were silent for awhile, then Akio turned to me and asked, “What were you doing out there?!”
“Just trying to walk home,” I replied, my voice choked, “guess I slipped.”
“You were pretty close to Akai’s house,” he pointed, “hey, isn’t Amiboshi staying there? Why didn’t he walk you home? You guys got back together, didn’t you?”
The memories flooded back to me, and I wanted to break down into sobs. I loved him...I loved him so much...
“Nishiko! You’re crying!” he exclaimed. I put a hand to my cheek and felt warm tears.
“I am...” I murmured, my voice hushed, then turned and looked out of the window, “hey...here’s my house.”
Akio’s mom stopped the car, and I opened the door, getting out better than I had coming in.
“Nishiko, I really think you should come back to our house. Are your parents home?”
I shook my head abstractly, walking away, “Thanks for the ride.” With that, I disappeared behind the back of the house.
I slipped in the back door to find Jiyu on the couch, reading the paper.
“Hey, idiot,” he greeted me casually, “walk home in the rain?”
I didn’t reply, for now I felt more tears roll down my cheeks.
He looked at me more carefully, “Hey, you’re crying! What’s wrong?”
“...Jiyu!!” I cried, running to him and throwing my arms around him, breaking into sobs. He surprisedly hugged me back, “What’s wrong, sis?”
I sobbed into my brother’s chest endlessly, him gently gently stroking my back, utterly concerned and confused.
“Nishiko, wha...”
“Amiboshi,” I wept, and more pain came with his beautiful name, “I...I’ll never see him again...”
I met Jiyu’s confused eyes, and he suddenly seemed to understand, but not in the way I meant. Slowly, he held me closer, saying softly, “Bastard.”
No...no, that wasn’t it.... I sobbed harder.
“Don’t worry, sis. It’ll be okay.”
I didn’t reply. Would it? Would it really?
OWARI
1 For all you Phantom fans...^_^
2 Ah, and how I was coined, “the psychotic she-devil.” I actually wrote that line, thinking of NOTHING else for him to call me. I figured “bitch” was too harsh, and he wouldn’t call me that, so “she-devil” it was.
| Prolouge | Chapter One | Chapter Two |
| Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five |
| Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight |
| Chapter Nine | Chapter Ten | Chapter Eleven |
| Chapter Twelve |